Will it be the biggest mismatch in the history of the Sunshine Classic, or the best defensive duel ever?

Jon Adams, an offensive guru at Nottingham High, hopes defense will bring his East team a big upset victory Tuesday night at The College of New Jersey’s Lions Stadium.

That’s where the East and West teams, made up of graduated seniors from 31 schools in six area counties, will go head to head to help raise funds so Mercer County’s chapter of the Sunshine Foundation can continue to run its programs that benefit handicapped children.

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Kickoff is at 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast by the WBCB Sports Network on WRRC “The Bronc” on WRRC 107.7 FM. Tickets will be sold outside Lions Stadium for $7 each — all to benefit the Sunshine chapter.

Last year’s game was delayed before kickoff by rain and lightning, and eventually cancelled after a 45-minute wait.

Game directors Jack Dunn and Steve Gazdek hope the weather doesn’t interfere with Tuesday’s game, which has already seen several of Mercer County’s better players prohibited from playing by their college teams.

Regardless, the ones that have trained six days to be ready for this summertime showcase are ready to make their final high school game competitive.

The game’s individual awards, sponsored by The Trentonian, will be presented after the game, including the top back and lineman for each team and the Sunshine Classic MVP.

Pregame talk points to a blowout victory by the West squad, coached by Tom Hoglen of Hamilton.

His offense features three quarterbacks who each passed for more than 1,000 yards last fall in Austin Fellows of Hopewell Valley, Nick Falkenberg of Lawrence and Marc Monks of North Hunterdon.

Three running backs who each gained more than 1,000-yards — Trentonian Player of the Year Andrew Yuska of Hopewell Valley, Semei Mitchell of Lawrence and Dauvantay Ellis of Ewing — compliment them.

An interesting sidelight to the West offense is West Windsor-Plainsboro South’s all-star lineman Diego Coutino, who has worked out as fullback to help open holes for the Yuska-Mitchell-Ellis trio.

“Diego is one of the best offensive lineman I ever coached, and he could be used at fullback,” said WW-P South coach Todd Smith, who watched a workout the other night. “That shows how talented he is.”

While the East doesn’t have the offensive firepower the West claims, it does have its share of defensive specialists. Trumaine and Tramel Nieves of Trenton, who led the Tornadoes to their best season in 18 years, are among them.

Meanwhile, East defensive coordinator Dan Caruso from Steinert hopes his secondary, including Trenton’s J’Von Clark and Florence’s Marcus Lawless, can fill the holes up front quick enough to keep Mercer County rushing leaders from finding a seam and using their breakaway speed to get to the end zone.

Under all-star rules, defenses cannot blitz or use twisting tactics along the defensive line and need to play a 5-2 alignment up front.

“It’s not any scheming because this is to show off the offenses,” Caruso said. “It will be easy to coach because the kids just go out there and play. You know they (West) will want to mix up their offense.”